Scottish Executive

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the outcome of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 22 and 23 March 2004.

Allan Wilson: I attended the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on 22 and 23 March together with Margaret Beckett, Ben Bradshaw and Ian Pearson.

  The Council marked its respect for the victims of the Madrid bombs with a period of silence.

  The main item of fisheries business was a discussion on the Commission's proposals for a regulation to reduce the level of small cetacean bycatch. After a long debate, political agreement was reached on the regulation, marking an important step forward in Community protection of these important species. During the debate, many member states expressed concerns about the resource implications of the proposal, both for the fishing industry and government. The UK lifted its request for exemptions from mandatory use of acoustic deterrent devices ("pingers") in the 0-6 nautical mile zone while arguing against a wide exemption for under 12 metre vessels. We also expressed concerns about an exemption for vessels under 15 metres from observer requirements. In the final agreement reached, however, these vessel exemptions were carried. Nevertheless, the UK welcomes political agreement on the regulation. Importantly, the debate shaped the regulation so that it now offers increased flexibility for those member states that already have robust bycatch data to design appropriate monitoring schemes alongside provisions for mandatory monitoring schemes for those that do not. Pilot projects will now be introduced to study the impact of pinger usage and to assess bycatch on vessels under 15 metres. Such schemes have to be designed to deliver good quality scientific data which will be used to review the regulation after two years' experience. Agreement was also reached on phasing in the use of pingers in the Eastern English Channel (ICES sub-area VIId). Finally, the regulation also provides for the progressive phasing out of drift nets in the Baltic, which will culminate in a total ban on 1 January 2008.

  A regulation was also adopted to provide long-term protection to an area of cold water coral reefs off the north west of Scotland (known as the Darwin Mounds) from the impact of damaging fishing activities. We were pleased that agreement had been reached to set the emergency, temporary measures for protecting the area, put in place at the UK's request in August last year, on a more permanent footing.

  The only agriculture business was further discussion of the Commission's proposals for reform of the olive oil, cotton, tobacco and hops regimes, together with some technical amendment of existing regulations to accommodate the new member states joining the EU in May this year. The Presidency acknowledged that several delegations were not in a position to conclude negotiations at this Council and announced an additional Council on 19 to 20 April in Luxembourg to deal specifically with this package. Discussion concentrated on cotton, olive oil and tobacco and largely re-confirmed existing positions. I stressed the case for the Commission's proposal of 100% decoupling in the tobacco sector and joined those arguing for a higher level of decoupling than that proposed for cotton.

  Under other business, Commissioner Byrne reported on a recent visit to the USA, Commissioner Fischler reported on progress in EU/Mercosur trade talks and Austria raised a point on harmonisation of approval procedures for pesticides.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6836 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004, what resources, financial and otherwise, have been used by the Care Commission in publicising the national care standards in each year since its inception.

Mr Tom McCabe: Scottish ministers are responsible for the development and publication of the National Care Standards, which the Care Commission must take into account when carrying out its business. The Scottish Executive works closely with the Care Commission in publicising the standards. Decisions on how its budget is allocated are an operational matter for the Care Commission.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6836 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 March 2004, how much the Care Commission charges for attendance at its meetings and conferences.

Mr Tom McCabe: To date, the Care Commission has not charged for attendance at its meetings and conferences. Decisions on charging for attendance at such events are an operational matter for the Care Commission itself.

Electricity

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether scenic value and impact on tourism will be taken into account when considering a planning application in respect of the proposed transmission line from Beauly to Denny.

Lewis Macdonald: The impact of this proposal on landscape and tourism will be fully considered. Schedule 3 of the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 outline in full what factors ministers should consider when arriving at a determination.

Electricity

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will examine the cost-benefit analysis, environmental impact analysis and the impact on scenic heritage and tourism of the proposed Beauly to Denny transmission line.

Lewis Macdonald: The expected application for the construction of the Beauly to Denny transmission line upgrade will be subject to wide ranging consultation during which the potential environmental and wider impacts will be subject to careful consideration.

Electricity

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, if it considered that the Beauly to Denny transmission line would adversely effect the environment, scenic heritage and communities of the Highlands, it would recommend routing the transmission line underground in some areas.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-7224 on 20 April 2004. It would be inappropriate to anticipate the outcome of the consultation process. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any measures will be implemented to offset any negative consequences of the removal of EU accession state workers from eligibility under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.

Allan Wilson: In anticipation of a decline in the number of workers from the EU accession countries who will be working under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) the registered scheme Operators have taken steps to increase recruitment from countries outwith the enlarged EU such as the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia. Workers from the accession countries can, however, continue to work under SAWS as long as they hold a SAWS work card issued before 1 May 2004. They may also register to work in the UK outwith the SAWS scheme.

  Employment is a matter reserved to the UK Government. The Home Office is responsible for running the SAWS scheme and for the registration of other workers.

European Union

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will oppose proposals by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to repatriate regional structural funding, given the statement in the speech by the First Minister on 23 March 2004 to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities that structural fund programmes have shown the added value of the regional administration of EU policy and funding.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish model of regional partnerships has added value to the delivery of current and previous structural fund programmes. It has encouraged consensus among partners about how best to deliver sustainable economic development that tackles problems ranging from peripherality to urban deprivation.

  Although there will continue to be a need to address such problems in Scotland post 2006, it is clear that the accession countries face considerably greater challenges. The Scottish Executive supports the UK Government's policy, as outlined in their proposals for an EU Framework for Devolved Regional Policy, that future structural funds should be concentrated on these poorer member states. The Scottish Executive is liaising closely with the UK Government to ensure that Scottish interests are taken into account as the debate on the future of the Structural Funds for the 2007-13 period progresses.

General Practitioners

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to providing assistance to NHS boards, following the introduction of the general medical services contract, to relocate GP premises to the areas that they serve as a means of addressing health inequalities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The general medical services contract requires that GP premises are suitable for the delivery of services and sufficient to meet the reasonable demands of patients. Decisions about the location of GP premises are devolved to NHS boards. It is for them to develop their own premises strategy and identify priorities for new building. When the future of premises in a particular practice comes forward for decision the NHS board should take account of health inequalities as one of the factors in the choice of the site from which services are to be delivered.

  NHS boards may deploy their capital allocations to support primary care development and support projects which deliver the Executive's vision for community health service centres as set out in the Partnership Agreement. In February revenue allocations were made which earmark funding for GP premises. These show an increase of approximately 70% in recurring funding over a three-year period.

General Practitioners

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider health pathfinder areas to address health inequalities caused by any inappropriate location of GPs and health services.

Malcolm Chisholm: Tackling inequalities is at the heart of our health improvement policies, the framework for which is laid out in Towards a Healthier Scotland  (1999) and Improving Health in Scotland: the Challenge  (2003).

  Recent research has shown that people living in the most deprived areas are less likely to access health care services than those in more affluent areas. With this in mind, I announced early this year details of a £15 million over two years investment package aimed at addressing unmet health needs and improving access to NHS services. Three NHS boards – Greater Glasgow, Tayside and Argyll and Clyde – will benefit from this funding.

General Practitioners

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it seeks from NHS boards to assess the impact of the location of GPs on the health needs of the population.

Malcolm Chisholm: None. Decisions about the location of GP premises are devolved to NHS boards. It is for them to develop their own premises strategy and identify priorities for new building and development of existing premises. Strategies should however be sufficiently flexible to take advantage of opportunities for re-location as they arise.

General Practitioners

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who will fund the potential shortfall in the costs of the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the new GP contract, given that NHS boards will receive 81% of the cost of implementing the framework, and what the potential funding gap is for each board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The final cost of implementing the Quality and Outcomes Framework within the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract is dependent upon the level of achievement by practices across Scotland. Current assumptions around the budget for quality payments are being made on the basis of 80% of practices achieving approximately 85% of the total points available in the framework. In theory there is a possibility that all practices achieve 100% of the quality points available, however given the focus on complex evidence based care and the reporting requirements of the framework, we would consider it very unlikely that such levels would be achieved in the first two years of the scheme being operational.

  The progress of practices against the framework will be closely monitored, for financial planning purposes, throughout the year and these risk assumptions will be continuously reviewed.

  Quality payments to practices will also based on disease prevalence and this information will not be available until later this year, as it is being gathered as part of the implementation of the new framework. Consequently funding allocations to NHS boards for quality achievement will not be made until later in the year to enable this emerging information to be factored in to calculations.

  Ultimately any potential overspend in this area of the contract must be managed within the overall financial envelope for the GMS contract.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is being made to ensure that GPs attend road traffic accidents at an appropriate time in remote and rural areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: In terms of the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 immediately necessary treatment must be provided on request to any person as a result of an accident or emergency at any place within the practice area within core hours.

  Where the general practitioner is providing treatment within a contract where responsibility for out of hours services has been retained the requirement to provide immediately necessary treatment applies to that period.

Genetically Modified Crops

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be public consultation regarding a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be made available for a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops and from where such funding will be allocated.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops would be administered.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what compensation scheme will be established for farmers affected by any voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive who will pay compensation due under any compensation scheme for farmers affected by a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops.

Allan Wilson: As I made clear in my statement to Parliament on 10 March, the Executive is committed to establishing statutory coexistence measures. It is our intention to bring forward legislative proposals to Parliament to enable measures to be put in place in advance of any planting of GM crops in Scotland. We have given an undertaking to consult on the terms of such a regime later this year.

  Any decision by groups of farmers to establish GM-free zones on a voluntary basis will be without prejudice to these statutory measures.

Genetically Modified Crops

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops will work at the Scottish-English border.

Allan Wilson: Both the Scottish Executive and UK Government have indicated that they intend to introduce statutory coexistence measures. My officials are working closely with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on a range of issues requiring inter-administration co-ordination including cross-border issues.

Genetically Modified Crops

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive who would regulate a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops.

Allan Wilson: This is a matter which will be addressed in the consultation referred to in the answer given to question S2W-7108 on 20 April 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Genetically Modified Crops

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive who would monitor a voluntary coexistence scheme for farmers growing GM and non-GM crops in respect of (a) gene flow, (b) wildlife contamination and (c) soil contamination.

Allan Wilson: The principal purpose of a coexistence regime is to protect consumer and farmer choice by enabling GM and non-GM crops to coexist. The GM Inspectorate would have a role in ensuring compliance with any coexistence regime. This is distinct from statutory post-market monitoring which covers a range of direct and indirect environmental effects (including, where appropriate monitoring of gene flow and effects on wildlife and soil ecology) arising from the release of genetically modified organisms and which is undertaken by consent holders as a condition of individual consents.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in, and what the cost has been of, implementing the (a) new consultant contracts and (b) Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The new consultant contract came into force on 1 April 2004. NHS boards are presently engaged in a job planning process with consultants which, it is envisaged, will be largely complete by the end of May 2004. The precise cost to boards of implementing the contract will depend on the outcome of this process. The cost will be covered by the overall record uplift in allocations to health boards from the Scottish Executive of £370 million (7.8%) in 2003-04 and 365 million (7.25%) in 2004-05, supplemented by the recent allocation of £30 million to NHSScotland as a contribution to the costs of pay and service modernisation in 2003-04.

  On Agenda for Change, the proposed national roll-out date is October 2004. On progress towards implementation, the central pay modernisation team for Agenda for Change are providing training and awareness sessions on both the job evaluation processes and the Knowledge and Skills Framework associated with Agenda for Change. Four project sites across Scotland are piloting staff matching and evaluation processes. Progress will be overseen by the Scottish Pay Reference and Implementation Group, which includes representatives from NHSScotland management, trades unions, and the Scottish Executive Health Department.

  The exact cost of assimilating staff onto the Agenda for Change pay system will not be known until NHS boards complete job matching and evaluation processes for their staff. As with the consultant's contract cost, this will be covered by the overall uplift in allocations to health boards outlined above.

  On funding to help with implementation of pay modernisation, three specific funding packages have been provided by the Executive to assist boards in delivering Agenda for Change and the consultant and GMS contracts.

  We have allocated £3.5 million to NHS boards in Scotland for the period 2003-05 to support the establishment of pay modernisation teams in each local NHS system which will oversee the implementation of the three strands of pay modernisation. Allocations by NHS board are shown in Table 1 below.

  


Board/Trust

Total Amount 
2003-05

Notes



Argyll and Clyde NHS Board

£300,000

Includes Western Isles



Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board

£200,000




Borders NHS Board

£100,000




Lanarkshire NHS Board

£300,000

Includes State Hospital



Grampian NHS Board

£300,000

Includes Shetland and Orkney



Greater Glasgow NHS Board

£500,000

Includes Golden Jubilee Hospital and NHS24



Highland NHS Board

£200,000




Tayside NHS Board

£300,000




Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board

£100,000




Fife NHS Board

£200,000




Forth Valley NHS Board

£200,000




Lothian NHS Board

£400,000




Special Health Boards



Common Services Agency

£250,000

Includes NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, NHS Health and NHS Education for Scotland



Scottish Ambulance Service

£150,000
 



Total

£3,500,000
 



  In addition, on 9 July 2004, £540,000 was given to the four project sites who are piloting the staff matching and evaluation processes for Agenda for Change in Scotland. This was allocated as shown at Table 2 below.

  


Common Services Agency

£150,000



Golden Jubilee

£ 50,000



Highland

£100,000



West Lothian

£240,000



Total

£540,000



  Note:

  £1 million was also allocated for 2003-04 to resource central pay modernisation teams who will provide dedicated leadership to support delivery of the three strands of pay modernisation.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the US Food and Drug Administration requesting the label of 10 anti-depressant drugs to include a statement that recommends close observation of the patients for worsening depression or the warning signs of suicide and the fact that nine of these drugs are prescribed in Scotland, what steps will be taken to instruct NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to introduce a monitoring structure in respect of the use and effect of these drugs.

Malcolm Chisholm: The regulation and safety of medicines is reserved and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

  The safety of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been closely monitored by the MHRA and the UK independent expert advisory committee, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM).

  The CSM has considered the question of suicidal behaviour in association with the SSRIs on a number of occasions and carefully assessed any new data. The CSM has advised that it is general clinical experience that patients taking any anti-depressant may develop an increase in suicidal behaviour in the first few weeks of treatment. SSRI product information has been amended to include warnings that suicidal behaviour may increase in the early stages of treatment with any anti-depressant and that patients should be carefully monitored during this period. The CSM advice is available on www.mhra.gov.uk.

  The CSM's Expert Working Group on the safety of SSRIs is currently reviewing the available evidence relating to the safety of these medicines, with particular reference to behavioural disorders, including suicidality, to ensure that the advice in the product information is optimal for safe use of these products.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether travel times to road traffic accidents are not included in the new out-of-hours medical cover proposals and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: Under the terms of the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, immediately necessary treatment must be provided on request to any person as a result of an accident or emergency at any place within the practice area, within core hours.

  Where the general practitioner is providing treatment within a contract where responsibility for out of hours services has been retained, the requirement to provide immediately necessary treatment also applies to that period.

  Where the GP practice opts to transfer its out of hours responsibility, then the health board will be required to have in place alternative arrangements which must meet national accreditation standards, currently under development. These standards will be used to provide the assurance that suitable and safe arrangements are in place to provide primary medical services out-of-hours for people across Scotland.

  NHS boards are in the process of developing their plans for the re-provision of out-of-hours services and at this stage we do not yet have final details on the content of these individual plans.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact each of Her Majesty's Government's fiscal measures that impact on housing announced in the UK budget will have on the availability of affordable housing for rent and purchase in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.

Ms Margaret Curran: We do not expect that the measures announced in the Budget on 17 March relating to housing benefit, the landlords' energy saving allowance and the possibility of a "green landlord scheme" will have a direct impact on the availability of affordable housing. It is not possible to assess indirect impacts through the effect of those measures on the economics of letting for individual landlords.

  A number of other measures require further development and it is not possible to comment at this stage on their likely impact. The Executive will liaise with colleagues in HM Treasury and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the development of any such measures and to ensure that, where appropriate, they take account of the Scottish context.

  The Budget report refers to a recommendation in the report of the review of housing supply carried out for HM Treasury by Kate Barker, in which she proposes the introduction of a planning-gain supplement to capture some of the development gains that landowners benefit from. While the UK Government agrees in principle with this proposal, it wishes to be sure of a number of matters before deciding whether to proceed with such a measure.

  The Budget statement announced a consultation on property investment funds If introduced, property investment funds would be designed to improve the efficiency of property investment and improve supply in the rented sector.

  The Budget statement confirmed the intention, announced in the 2003 pre-Budget report, to introduce a derelict land tax credit after further consultation to favour the development of brownfield sites over greenfield sites.

  Other fiscal announcements in the budget relating to housing concern the government's devolved responsibilities for housing in England. In particular they relate to housing aspects of the 2004 spending review for England and have no direct impact on the availability of affordable housing in Scotland. The Executive's 2004 spending review will take account of the current review of affordable housing.

Housing

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-5903 and S2W-6823 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 September 2003 and 24 March 2004 respectively, how many unit approvals are estimated to be provided in each local authority area for (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06, broken down into (i) general needs housing, (ii) special needs housing, (iii) low cost housing and (iv) any other identifiable category.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Ministers have given a commitment to provide 18,000 new and improved homes for social rent and low cost home ownership in the three years up to 2006. Specific programme details for 2005-06 will be developed during the course of 2004-05. The following table shows the planned number of housing approvals in 2004-05 in each local authority area split by general needs, special needs and low cost home ownership.

  Table 1 – Housing Approvals by Category (2004-05)

  


Unitary Authority

Rent – General Needs Number

Rent – Special Needs Number.

Low Cost Home Ownership Number



Aberdeenshire Council

75

35

48



Angus Council

20

49

0



Argyll and Bute Council

209

37

11



City of Aberdeen Council

20

20

38



City of Dundee Council

66

113

16



City of Edinburgh Council

310

94

0



Clackmannan Council

30

0

0



Dumfries and Galloway Council

62

23

32



East Ayrshire Council

14

2

16



East Dunbartonshire Council

100

18

0



East Lothian Council

73

0

7



East Renfrewshire Council

68

21

80



Falkirk Council

40

29

0



Fife Council

113

53

0



Glasgow Council

1,075

172

172



Highland Council

148

16

108



Inverclyde Council

98

24

100



Midlothian Council

38

0

0



Moray Council

58

45

10



North Ayrshire Council

50

13

21



North Lanarkshire Council

151

73

40



Orkney Islands Council

4

0

29



Perthshire and Kinross Council

60

40

41



Renfrewshire Council

76

162

0



Shetland Islands Council

4

0

4



South Ayrshire Council

31

8

24



South Lanarkshire Council

212

0

35



Stirling Council

34

0

0



The Scottish Borders Council

35

15

4



West Dunbartonshire Council

44

20

36



West Lothian Council

24

10

0



Western Isles Council

35

6

3

Housing

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2344 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 September 2003, when it will be finalising the specific programme details from 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The Scottish Executive's Affordable Housing Programme announcement for 2004-05 was made on 25 March 2004. Specific programme details for 2005-06 will be developed during the course of 2004-05.

Livestock

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether free-range pigs have a livestock unit value and, if so, whether such pigs are considered livestock units in the determination of stocking densities in conjunction with other livestock.

Allan Wilson: All adult pigs, including free-range pigs, have a livestock unit value of 0.4 for the purposes of calculating stocking densities. Whether or not pigs are considered livestock units in the determination of stocking densities in conjunction with other livestock depends on the reason for the calculation being made. Pigs are not included as livestock units when calculating stocking densities for support schemes including the Extensification Payment Scheme and the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.

Livestock

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the potential for introducing more flexible guidelines for the cattle passport and tagging system.

Allan Wilson: The requirements for the identification and traceability of cattle are set out in EC legislation which came into force in 1998.

  Cattle keepers must register their animals and apply for passports within 27 days of birth. Initially some flexibility in applying the rules was permitted to allow keepers to become familiar with the new requirements. This approach could not be sustained indefinitely as it jeopardised approval of our system by the EU and had implications for the reputation of our beef industry, particularly in relation to export. All keepers were written to in early October 2003 to advise them of the removal of the initial flexibility and the importance of complying with existing deadlines.

  The deadlines for tagging are included in the EC legislation. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have provided recommendations on how to tag safely as we and HSE recognise that handling livestock can be dangerous. If HSE identify any serious issues from their monitoring, we will consider raising them at EU level.

NHS Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected costs are of out-of-hours medical cover and what any projected shortfalls in funding of the service are that each NHS board will be required to meet.

Malcolm Chisholm: These figures will not be available until NHS boards have completed their detailed plans for out-of-hours service provision. Boards have this work well in hand and are currently developing and refining their modelling. A key element in this work is determining the number of GPs who wish to transfer their responsibility for out-of-hours service provision, information which boards are currently finalising in discussion with GPs in their area.

  Practices opting to transfer their out-of-hours responsibility to NHS boards will surrender 6% of their global sum to reflect the reduced workload and responsibility. These funds will be available to boards to meet the costs of service provision. In addition the out-of-hours development fund will be increased from the existing level of £6.3 million to £10 million in 2005-06 to help deliver the new arrangements.

  A national working group comprised of key stakeholders, including NHS boards, GP out-of-hours co-operatives, NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service is established to support NHS boards in their planning and to develop a range of possible alternative models and arrangements for providing out of hours services which local NHS systems can adapt to their local needs.

NHS Staff

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical psychologist vacancies there are in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not currently available centrally.

NHS Staff

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many child and adolescent psychiatrist vacancies are currently unfilled in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on consultant vacancies is collected via an annual census, correct at 30 September. The most up-to-date centrally held data is correct to 30 September 2003 and is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at:

  www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

  Details on child and adolescent psychiatry consultant vacancy rates, specifically, are given in tables B11 and B12 of section B, which provide a summary of consultant vacancy rates by specialty, in each year since 2001, broken down by NHS board area. Figures are presented as headcount or whole time equivalent. Whole time equivalent adjusts headcount staff figures to take account of part-time staff.

NHS Staff

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many child psychologist posts are unfilled in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not currently available centrally.

National Parks

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers a national park has to ban (a) wind farms and (b) pylons.

Lewis Macdonald: Wind farm developments with a capacity in excess of 50MW require consent under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 following consultation with, among others, the National Park Authorities.

  Wind farms with a capacity of 50MW or less require planning permission. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority is responsible for determining applications for planning permission within its area. Applications for planning permission within the Cairngorms National Park are submitted in the first instance to the relevant local authority with the Cairngorms National Park Authority having powers to call in applications for its determination.

  All overhead lines are subject to consent under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 and are subject to determination by ministers in consultation with interested parties..

People with Disabilities

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision there is for the transport needs of visually impaired people in (a) rural areas and (b) Scotland as a whole.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive through the Rural Community Transport Initiative (RCTI) funds community transport measures in the more remote areas of Scotland, particularly where there are no scheduled or very limited bus services. The RCTI supports a wide range of projects, including dial-a-ride, community minibuses and social car schemes. The provision of door-to-door transport is particularly helpful to elderly and disabled people, including those with visual impairments, and people with young children. The projects enable people to get out and about, allowing them to be included in community life and helping to reduce rural and social isolation.

  There is a national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people introduced in December 1999 which offers card holders free travel at any time on buses, trains, ferries and the Glasgow Underground. The scheme provides considerable benefits to card holders.

  Traveline Scotland, a telephone and internet travel information service funded by the Executive, aims to make public transport information as widely available as possible. People who are visually impaired are able to obtain information about their planned journeys by telephone. Transport Direct is a new information service, which is a Department for Transport initiative supported by the Executive. This service is being developed to recognised standards to meet a wide range of disabled users, including visually impaired.

  The Executive is committed to ensuring that public transport is accessible to disabled people. To help achieve this the Executive will be assessing improved public transport concessions for disabled people and we will shortly be carrying out a period of consultation with all relevant transport bodies and stakeholders to consider how to take this assessment forward. This assessment will include people with visual impairments.

Police

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when training in mental health issues became an intrinsic part of probationary training for police constables.

Cathy Jamieson: Training on mental health issues was introduced into the probationary training programme in 1996.

Public Private Partnerships

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11086 by Angus MacKay on 23 November 2000, whether it will (a) provide an up-to-date list of the public sector capital projects involving private finance (i) completed, (ii) planned and (iii) under way, giving both the start and estimated completion dates, (b) detail the total estimated capital investment included in the projects, (c) detail the annual public expenditure required to service these projects in both cash and real terms for each year of the life of the projects and (d) give the total lifetime cost of the projects, shown individually and by sector in both cash and real terms.

Mr Andy Kerr: An up-to-date list of all currently active public private partnership projects known to the Executive is on the Financial Partnerships Unit website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp under the section projects. The information provided on projects includes stages of procurement, start and estimated completion dates and capital value.

  The estimated annual expenditure to service these projects on a sector basis is shown in the tables below in both cash and real terms for each year of the life of the projects. Detailed information for individual projects is a matter for the public sector bodies concerned.

  Existing Deals (Operational and Signed): Estimated Service Payments on a Sector Basis (£ million)

  

 

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09



Water and Sewerage (cash)

112.4

115.1

117.8

120.3

123.0

125.5



Water and Sewerage (real)

112.4

112.5

112.3

111.7

111.2

110.5



Further and Higher Education (cash)

4.9

4.7

4.7

4.8

4.4

4.4



Further and Higher Education (real)

4.9

4.6

4.5

4.5

4.0

3.9



Health (cash)

95.1

96.6

100.3

103.4

104.3

106.3



Health (real)

95.1

94.4

95.6

96.0

94.3

93.6



Justice (cash)

13.0

14.0

14.0

14.0

14.0

15.0



Justice (real)

13.0

13.7

13.3

13.0

12.7

13.2



National Roads and Transport (cash)

23.2

23.1

31.6

35.1

40.2

39.5



National Roads and Transport (real)

23.2

22.6

30.1

32.6

36.3

34.8



Social Work (cash)

1.5

1.6

1.6

1.7

1.7

0.9



Social Work (real)

1.5

1.6

1.5

1.6

1.5

0.8



Nationalised Industries (cash)

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.2



Nationalised Industries (real)

1.6

1.8

1.9

1.9

2.0

1.9



Local Authorities (cash)

112.7

119.3

130.8

135.1

137.7

136.3



Local Authorities (real)

112.7

116.6

124.7

125.4

124.5

120.0



Total (cash)

364.4

376.2

402.8

416.5

427.5

430.1



Total (real)

364.4

367.7

384.0

386.7

386.5

378.6



  

 

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15



Water and Sewerage (cash)

128.1

130.8

133.6

136.7

139.2

142.2



Water and Sewerage (real)

109.8

109.2

108.6

108.2

107.3

106.7



Further and Higher Education (cash)

4.3

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.0

3.9



Further and Higher Education (real)

3.7

3.4

3.3

3.2

3.1

2.9



Health (cash)

107.8

110.2

112.9

115.5

117.4

116.7



Health (real)

92.4

92.0

91.8

91.4

90.5

87.6



Justice (cash)

15.0

16.0

16.0

17.0

17.0

18.0



Justice (real)

12.9

13.4

13.0

13.5

13.1

13.5



National Roads and Transport (cash)

39.5

40.8

41.5

43.4

43.4

50.0



National Roads and Transport (real)

33.9

34.1

33.7

34.3

33.4

37.5



Social Work (cash)

1.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (real)

0.9

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (cash)

2.3

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

2.9



Nationalised Industries (real)

2.0

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.2



Local Authorities (cash)

138.1

140.8

142.9

144.9

143.3

145.3



Local Authorities (real)

118.4

117.5

116.1

114.7

110.4

109.0



Total (cash)

436.3

445.3

453.7

464.4

467.2

479.0



Total (real)

373.9

371.7

368.7

367.5

360.0

359.4



  

 

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21



Water and Sewerage (cash)

145.2

148.3

151.9

155.5

158.4

161.7



Water and Sewerage (real)

106.1

105.5

105.2

104.9

104.0

103.4



Further and Higher Education (cash)

3.8

3.7

3.7

3.6

3.5

4.4



Further and Higher Education (real)

2.8

2.6

2.6

2.4

2.3

2.8



Health (cash)

118.9

122.0

125.2

128.2

131.3

134.9



Health (real)

86.9

86.8

86.7

86.5

86.2

86.3



Justice (cash)

18.0

14.0

15.0

15.0

16.0

16.0



Justice (real)

13.2

10.0

10.4

10.1

10.5

10.2



National Roads and Transport (cash)

61.9

61.2

64.1

64.2

57.3

53.9



National Roads and Transport (real)

45.2

43.5

44.4

43.3

37.6

34.5



Social Work (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (cash)

3.0

3.1

3.1

3.3

3.4

3.6



Nationalised Industries (real)

2.2

2.2

2.1

2.2

2.2

2.3



Local Authorities (cash)

147.4

149.5

151.7

154.1

156.4

159.4



Local Authorities (real)

107.7

106.3

105.1

103.9

102.7

101.9



Total (cash)

498.2

501.8

514.7

523.9

526.3

533.9



Total (real)

364.0

357.0

356.5

353.3

345.6

341.4



  

 

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

2024-25

2025-26

2026-27



Water and Sewerage (cash)

151.7

155.6

159.0

162.3

158.8

134.7



Water and Sewerage (real)

94.5

94.3

93.9

93.3

88.9

73.4



Further and Higher Education (cash)

3.3

2.2

2.1

2.1

0.0

0.0



Further and Higher Education (real)

2.1

1.3

1.2

1.2

0.0

0.0



Health (cash)

138.6

141.8

145.6

144.9

147.1

147.7



Health (real)

86.3

86.0

86.0

83.3

82.3

80.5



Justice (cash)

16.0

16.0

17.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Justice (real)

10.0

9.7

10.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



National Roads and Transport (cash)

52.5

34.9

26.9

29.6

30.0

20.7



National Roads and Transport (real)

32.7

21.2

15.9

17.0

16.8

11.3



Social Work (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (cash)

3.7

3.9

4.4

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (real)

2.3

2.4

2.6

0.0

0.0

0.0



Local Authorities (cash)

162.4

164.8

167.3

169.7

150.7

138.6



Local Authorities (real)

101.1

99.9

98.8

97.5

84.3

75.5



Total (cash)

528.2

519.2

522.3

508.6

486.6

441.7



Total (real)

328.9

314.8

308.3

292.3

272.3

240.7



  

 

2027-28

2028-29

2029-30

2030-31

2031-32

2032-33



Water and Sewerage (cash)

123.1

124.8

82.9

49.0

37.8

26.8



Water and Sewerage (real)

65.3

64.5

41.7

24.0

18.0

12.4



Further and Higher Education (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Further and Higher Education (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Health (cash)

77.0

78.8

36.4

34.4

4.4

3.8



Health (real)

40.9

40.7

18.3

16.9

2.1

1.8



Justice (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Justice (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



National Roads and Transport (cash)

26.1

20.3

20.5

21.3

19.8

21.5



National Roads and Transport (real)

13.9

10.5

10.3

10.4

9.4

10.0



Social Work (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Local Authorities (cash)

108.1

96.2

87.2

15.3

15.6

15.8



Local Authorities (real)

57.4

49.7

43.9

7.5

7.4

7.3



Total (cash)

334.3

320.1

227.0

120.0

77.6

67.9



Total (real)

177.4

165.4

114.2

58.8

37.0

31.5



  

 

2033-34

2034-35

2035-36

2036-37

2037-38

2038-39



Water and Sewerage (cash)

19.0

19.5

20.1

20.7

21.3

22.0



Water and Sewerage (real)

8.6

8.6

8.6

8.6

8.7

8.7



Further and Higher Education (cash)

3.3

2.2

2.1

2.1

0.0

0.0



Further and Higher Education (real)

1.5

1.0

0.9

0.9

0.0

0.0



Health (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Health (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Justice (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Justice (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



National Roads and Transport (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



National Roads and Transport (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Social Work (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (cash)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Nationalised Industries (real)

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Local Authorities (cash)

16.2

14.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Local Authorities (real)

7.3

6.2

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0



Total (cash)

38.5

35.8

22.2

22.8

21.3

22.0



Total (real)

17.4

15.8

9.5

9.5

8.7

8.7



  Notes:

  1. Real prices to a base year of 2003-04.

  2. From 2009-10 a GDP deflator of 2.7% has been assumed.

  3. Data source March 2003 HMT return.

Public Private Partnerships

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount is of capital resources provided through all private finance initiative and public private partnership projects and what proportion this forms of the total capital resources available in the public sector in each financial year since 1999-2000, broken down by sector.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the Executive's overall capital budgets and capital spending on public private partnerships projects for each portfolio for 2000-01 to 2003-04 is set out in The Scottish Budget 2003-04,  a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20472).

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive at what level the decision was taken to extend the construction programme in the application for a wind farm at Whitelee Forest from 24 to 31 months without public consultation.

Lewis Macdonald: The applicant's proposal to extend the construction programme will be considered when the proposal comes to be determined. In the meantime the applicant has included this proposal in its amended environmental statement, which has been the subject of public consultation.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it became aware that the amount of aggregate to be quarried from the site of the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest would be increased from three-quarters of a million cubic metres to three million cubic metres and whether this was a factor in the consideration of extending the construction programme from 24 to 31 months.

Lewis Macdonald: This information was given to the Scottish Executive and the three relevant planning authorities during a meeting with Scottish Power in May 2003. The reasons for the request for an extension to the construction period are included in the addendum to the environmental statement and all of these matters are still to be considered. A determination of the company's application for consent is not expected in the near future.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Power was required to undertake a new environmental impact assessment at the site of the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest to estimate potential significant habitat impact from the proposed four-fold increase in aggregate to be quarried from the site and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Power were advised on 29 May 2003 that the increased scale of borrow pits would, in terms of Regulation 14 of the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000, require a further environmental impact assessment.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cubic metres of peat are now expected to be disturbed at the site of the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest following Scottish Power's identification of deeper and more extensive areas of peat within the site during further ground investigation.

Lewis Macdonald: The disturbance of peat is one of a number of issues that remain to be considered prior to determination of the application by ministers. No decision will be made until these issues are resolved or until it becomes clear that there is no solution available that meets the needs of all the parties involved.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what scientific evidence Scottish Power has provided to support the claim in its environmental impact assessment for the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest that peat removed during site construction can be successfully reinstated thus preventing it releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide.

Lewis Macdonald: This is one of a number of issues that remain to be considered by ministers when determining the application. No decision will be made until ministers are satisfied that appropriate measures are in place to address the environmental and other impacts of the proposed development.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will now institute a public inquiry into the application to build a wind farm at Whitelee Forest, in light of Scottish Power's recent acknowledgement that it underestimated the amount of aggregate to be excavated from the site by over two million cubic metres and South Lanarkshire Council's request that concerns raised by objectors and consultees be investigated.

Lewis Macdonald: There are a number of matters concerning this application that remain to be resolved. This is likely to take some time. If at the end of this process there are still issues that cannot be resolved without a public inquiry, then a public inquiry will be put in place.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to calls by South Lanarkshire Council and East Renfrewshire Council, among others, for it to ensure that Scottish Power submits separate planning applications with accompanying environmental assessments for the 16 sites it proposes to quarry to provide three million cubic metres of aggregate for the proposed construction of a wind farm site at Whitelee Forest.

Lewis Macdonald: We are considering whether these sites should be treated as ancillary to the development under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and will advise the councils and those other parties that have raised this matter once a decision has been made.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it advised Scottish Power regarding its request to third party objectors to copy their submissions to Scottish Power in advance of recent local authority planning committee hearings in respect of the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive issues general advice to applicants about the contents of notices published in connection with applications to the Scottish ministers for consent under the Electricity Act. The request referred to is not included in that advice. The notices published by Scottish Power meet the requirements set out in the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990 and it remains a matter for the individuals involved whether to copy their responses to the applicant.

Renewable Energy

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given to planning authorities concerning the assessment and mitigation of peat slide risk at wind farm sites and whether this advice was reassessed following the peat slide at Derrybrien in the Republic of Ireland which a report from Applied Ground Engineering Consultants states was triggered by the construction of a wind farm.

Lewis Macdonald: No such advice has been issued. We are commissioning work to develop a risk assessment tool for use in connection with wind farm developments on blanket peat. We shall, if necessary, issue advice to planning authorities when this work has been completed.

Rural Development

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how its Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department implements policy on sustainable rural businesses.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive's objective is sustainable improvement in economic performance for the whole of Scotland. A Smart, Successful Scotland  sets out strategic direction for the enterprise networks, who are responsible for delivery of support to business, under three priorities of growing   businesses, global connections and learning and skills .  These apply equally in rural areas.

  In following this direction, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise take account of local needs, opportunities and challenges when assisting businesses in rural economies.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to encourage the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to increase charges levied for the administration of authorisation for safe disposal of used sheep dip and pesticide waste on farmland and, if so, what the increase will be and what information it has on how this will compare with English charges, in cash and percentage terms.

Allan Wilson: The Executive requires the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to recover its regulatory costs. Following a recent review of charge levels under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 and public consultation, I approved the charges for 2004-05 and 2005-06 shown in the table. The increases over previous years and equivalent charges in England and Wales for 2004-05 are also shown.

  Grazing committees in crofting areas are able to make a single application on behalf of a number of farmers. This allows the annual charges to be divided amongst the members of the committee, thereby significantly reducing the charge payable by individual crofters.

  

 

SEPA's 2004-05
Charges

Increase Over
2003-04
(cash)

Increase Over
2003-04
(percentage)

Equivalent charges in England and Wales in 2004-05*

SEPA's 2005-06
Charges

Increase Over 2004-05 (cash)

Increase Over 2004-05 (percentage)



Application Fee

£167

£3

RPI (2.9%)

£106

£167 plus RPI

RPI equivalent

RPI



Annual Subsistence Charge



- Daily Volume Disposed: up to & incl 5m3

£145

£13

10%

£129

£160 plus RPI

£15 plus RPI equivalent

10.3% plus RPI



- Daily Volume Disposed: Exceeding 5m3 up to & incl 20m3

£242

£22

10%

£215

£267 plus RPI

£25 plus RPI equivalent

10.3% plus RPI



- Daily Volume Disposed: Exceeding 20m3

£483

£44

10%

£430

£535 plus RPI

£52 plus RPI equivalent

10.8% plus RPI



  Notes:

  *Charges in England and Wales for 2005-06 are not available.

  All numbers are rounded.

Scottish Executive Staff

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33935 by Mr Andy Kerr on 20 February 2003, how many full-time equivalent members of staff are employed by it and each of its executive agencies and associated departments.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is contained in the table below.

  Number of Permanent Full-Time Equivalent Staff in the Scottish Executive Core Departments, Agencies and Associated Departments at 1 March 2004

  


Scottish Executive Core Departments

4,392.6 



Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal

1,445.7 



Agencies and Associated Departments



Accountant in Bankruptcy

65.3 



Fisheries Research Service

330.4 



HMI Education

167.8 



Student Awards Agency for Scotland

128.1 



Scottish Agricultural Science Agency

136.4 



Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

265.5 



Scottish Public Pensions Agency

226.9 



Communities Scotland

414.8 



Historic Scotland

727.3 



Scottish Prison Service

4,365.1 



Scottish Court Service

989.8 



General Register Office for Scotland

205.2 



National Archive of Scotland

148.2 



Registers of Scotland

1,355.4

Scottish Executive Staff

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33936 by Mr Andy Kerr on 20 February 2003, how many members of staff are employed in its Media and Communications Group, broken down into press officers, support for press officers, publicity officers, internal communications, support for internal communications, forward planning, support for forward planning and any other type of staff.

Mr Andy Kerr: There are 90.6 (full-time equivalent) staff employed in Media and Communications, including five external marketing secondees. A detailed breakdown is available in the Scottish Executive Business directory, which is available to MSPs.

Scottish Executive Transport

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33817 by Mr Andy Kerr on 17 February 2003, whether it will provide a breakdown of the full costs, including fuel, drivers' salaries, insurance, road tax and servicing, of providing the ministerial car service and how many cars there have been in the pool since 2002-03

Mr Andy Kerr: Expenditure on fuel, service and repairs, staff costs, contract hire, and the number of vehicles used by the Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) for 2002-03 and 2003-04 is shown in the table below:

  


Year

Fuel Cost (£)

Service/Repairs (£)

Staff Costs (£)1

Private Contract Hire4

Number of cars



2002-03

42,131

37,516

479,970

146,316

222



2003-04

47,0563

29,4233

456,4033

104,0003

222



  Notes:

  1. Staff costs include Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) and earnings-related national insurance contributions (ERNIC).

  2. Includes one people-carrier.

  3. Estimate for the full year based on part-year figures.

  4. When demand exceeds capacity, private hire cars are engaged. The Government Car Service (Scotland) provides or arranges transport for Scottish ministers, ministers of UK Government Departments when in Scotland, senior officials at the Scottish Executive, and visiting dignitaries.

  All vehicles owned by the Scottish Executive have Crown exemption from road tax. Vehicle insurance policies are not taken out by the public sector.

Smoking

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5690 by Mr Tom McCabe on 2 February 2004, how it will enable and encourage all interested parties to air their personal views as part of its set piece consultation on smoking in public places.

Mr Tom McCabe: As my response to question S2W-5690 indicates, the consultation aims to provide opportunities for all individuals, businesses, representative groups and other organisations to air their views on this topic.

  The public consultation will be launched in early June and will run until the end of September. It will be well publicised and run alongside an awareness raising campaign about the impact of second-hand smoke. The consultation document will be made widely available and will be designed to secure responses from both organisations and individual members of the public. The consultation will also include focus group work, regional seminars, and a national conference on 9 September which will allow people the opportunity to debate the key issues involved. We are also working with Young Scot on a series of activities designed to involve young people in this important debate.

  Full details of the consultation arrangements will be made available at the time of the launch.

Suicide

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-6261 by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 March 2004, whether it has any plans to collate information on the number of suicide attempts by patients in psychiatric hospitals and units.

Malcolm Chisholm: Through Choose Life, the Executive's national strategy and action plan to prevent suicide in Scotland, we are in the process of establishing a clinical advice network. Part of the remit of this network will be to review what data would be useful to inform work on suicide prevention and intervention activity; this work will include consideration of the appropriateness and practicability of collating information on the number of suicide attempts by patients in psychiatric hospitals and units.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive for what period any commitment to there being no compulsory redundancies for staff following the review of area tourist boards will apply.

Mr Frank McAveety: The current terms and conditions of area tourist board (ATB) staff will remain unchanged until April 2005. VisitScotland will ensure that as the new tourism network is developed, all ATB and VisitScotland staff are kept fully informed of developments.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the review of area tourist boards, any costs will be incurred as a result of facilities currently provided free of charge by local authorities no longer being provided free of charge or withdrawn and, if so, what the estimated costs are as a result for each of the next three years.

Mr Frank McAveety: The extent and future provision of services currently made available to area tourist boards by organisations such as local authorities will be reviewed quickly as part of the development of the new tourism network. The overall aim is to maintain such support to tourism as one of Scotland's most important business sectors, and one which benefits every part of the country.

Voluntary Sector

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete the review into future funding for the voluntary sector and when a decision will be made.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific factors are being taken into account in the formulation of a new funding regime for the voluntary sector, in light of the increasing responsibilities of the voluntary sector as a result of Executive and local authority policies.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any consultation has been undertaken directly with the voluntary sector regarding the development of a new funding formula for the sector.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive, in conjunction with COSLA and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, is currently undertaking a strategic review of funding for the voluntary sector. The review will identify the current scale and pattern of funding to the sector and examine the scope for improving its availability, effectiveness and sustainability.

  The findings of the working groups have been subject to consultation with the voluntary sector through a series of roadshows, and it is hoped that the review report will be published in summer 2004. Further information about the review can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/viu.

Whisky

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted any studies into the economic impact on the Scotch whisky industry of the imposition of whisky strip stamps.

Lewis Macdonald: No. Whisky strip stamps are a reserved matter. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise published a regulatory impact assessment "Tackling Spirits Fraud" on 8 April 2004. Link attached http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/graphics/excise-tackling-spirits-fraud-ria.pdf .

Whisky

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what help it plans to give to whisky producers and others in related sectors who may be affected by the introduction of whisky strip stamps.

Lewis Macdonald: Whisky strip stamps are a reserved matter. Nevertheless, Scottish ministers will continue to work closely with both the industry and the UK Government to try to arrive at a satisfactory outcome.